Plyushkin is an elderly nobleman who was once an extremely wealthy, organized, and prosperous landowner, but who withdrew into himself after experiencing a great psychological breakdown following his wife's death. When he first sees him, Chichikov struggles to understand whether he is an old housekeeper with tattered clothes and hair growing from his chin, or a male beggar. Despite having over a thousand peasants, vast lands, and tons of produce rotting in warehouses, he presents a picture of pathological insolvency (a hoarder/miser), collecting small nails from the ground, old rags, and paper scraps, letting them rot in his room. He did not extend a helping hand to his daughter and grandchild, and he disowned his son. Chichikov uses his sick stinginess to convince him to sell/transfer the 'dead souls' instantly, under the pretext of saving him from taxes. Plyushkin is a figure who has lost his mind enough to think Chichikov is an angel in the face of this shrewd maneuver, and he is a man in love with his own misery.
He was once an experienced and frugal landowner whose advice people came from afar to seek, a far-sighted father. He lost his balance with the passing of his spouse; when his elder daughter eloped with an officer, he disowned her, his younger daughter died young, and his son lost money in gambling, so loneliness consumed him. As his fortune grew, his spirit became diseased.
He looks just like a destitute old woman or a beggar. He is thin, dry, has a protruding mouth/chin (missing teeth), he chews his lips, and has a face where his mustache twitches like a cat's. His body is covered in greasy sleeves like tanned leather, a tattered four-piece cotton jacket, and a terrible wrap around his neck that resembles an old handkerchief.
Pavel İvanoviç Çiçikof
A guardian/foolish angel sent from heaven who saves him from bribing officials and tax burdens.
Aleksandra Stepanova (Kızı)
A cursed enemy/offspring whom he no longer cares for, merely keeping his heart cold and his wealth away from.